Jbe Kruger will take a one shot lead into the final round of the Avantha Masters on Sunday, but will need to be at his best to stay there as only three shots seperate the top 15 on the leaderboard.
On a day full od both fortunate and unfortunate close calls, it was Kruger’s consistency that saw him take his one shot lead as he managed to not only sink two eagles and two birdies to score 66 and go 11 under, but he also managed to keep his card bogey-free.
Kruger sank his first eagle at the par five sixth with an excellent 20 foot putt, while his second was even more impressive after he putted from off the green after his intial drive fell short of the green. Coupled with his birdies from both the fourth and 18th, the South African is now in an excellent position to secure his maiden European Tour victory.
“I’m going to try to play how I played today [Saturday],” said Kruger.
“If it’s meant to be my week, it’ll be mine, so I don’t want to think too far ahead yet.
“The putts need to go in and I think that’s what defines the winner. I’ve been reading the greens a little better as I’ve been struggling with it during the week.
“My putting has been good and if I can see the line, I’m confident my putts will go in. I’m improving and I’m a lot more experienced, and I think that will give me the edge.”
While Kruger can be happy with his performance, Scotland’s Peter Whiteford, Germany’s Marcel Siem and France’s Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, who are all tied for second place, will all feel that they too can win the event after a day which saw all three men recover well from a few costly errors.
On top of that the remaining 9 players in the top fifteen will all also feel that they have a real chance at claiming the title, including Ireland’s Paul McGinley who finished the day with a 68 and has a score of 9 under for the tournament.
“This is only my second tournament this year because I had a knee injury at the end of last season which I’m still coming back from,” said McGinley.
“It’s a pleasant surprise to be in contention because I’ve played so little golf. It was nice to finish birdie-birdie, and I nearly eagled the last – I hit a four iron to about 20 feet but just missed the putt. I played nicely and 68 is a good score.”